Village divided over pitch plans

A furious row has blown up over proposals for a new community hall and changing rooms. Tintwistle Villa football club is threatening legal action over a plan to reduce the size of its pitch, which it claims could see the club fold after 100 years.

A furious row has blown up over proposals for a new community hall and changing rooms.

Tintwistle Villa football club is threatening legal action over a plan to reduce the size of its pitch, which it claims could see the club fold after 100 years.

Tintwistle parish council put in an application for a smaller hall after a bid to the Football Foundation for a £100,000 grant fell through. The building is planned for land next to the football field off West Drive.

But Tintwistle Villa’s manager is annoyed about a proposal to shave an area off its pitch to improve access.

Bill Higginbottom said: “It’s a disgrace that our own parish council should be doing this. It could mean we will be kicked out of the league after 100 years as a club because our pitch won’t be big enough.

“The pitch needs to be 100 yards long – if it’s any smaller we won’t be able to play Saturday morning football. We’ve played on that pitch for 62 years.”

He added he only heard of the new scheme after receiving a letter from High Peak council because he lives near the ground.

“We have a 25-year lease on that pitch and were not even notified by the parish council. I had to go on the internet to see the plans. We’re going to get in touch with our own solicitor to take legal action against them.”

Jill Crossland, a parish councillor who is also secretary of Tintwistle Athletic FC, said she was unaware of plans to reduce the size of the pitch until Friday. She added: “Nobody at the parish council had any idea this was going to happen to the pitch. We knew our architect was working with the planning department on a smaller building.

“We are strong supporters of football in Tintwistle and have been working very hard to fundraise for new facilities after the application to the Football Foundation fell through. We had a £100,00 on the table last November but that money is no longer there, which is why we are submitting a plan for a smaller building.”

The council won a £50,000 grant from Sport England to go with £180,000 from the sale of its former offices on Manchester Road.

Architect Ian Nicholson said: “We have to comply with planning conditions set by the highways authority regarding access to the site. One way of doing that is reducing the size of the pitch by two metres, which is still within FA guidelines – football pitches are of different sizes.

The scheme will also include 45 parking spaces. Residents have until March 26 to air their views.